SMOKING cannabis daily sets users up for a lifetime of multiple drug use, a major study has found.

Weekly cannabis users are two to three times more likely to take up other drugs than occasional users. And not just illegal substances such as amphetamines, ecstasy and cocaine. Daily cannabis smokers proved six times more likely than occasional users to start smoking cigarettes, demonstrating what Dr Wendy Swift from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre calls "the reverse gateway".

"People say drug use always starts with tobacco, but in this study, some start with cannabis, and that moves them on to tobacco. And we all know the health cost of tobacco use."

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